1. Launch Microsoft Excel.

2. Open a new worksheet and save the file with a descriptive name such as "Car Loan."

3. Create labels for the cells in A1 down through A6 as follows: Car sale price, Trade-in value, Down payment, Rebates, Additional charges and Amou...

4. Enter the amounts for each item from your proposed car loan in cells B1 down through B5. The car sale price is negotiated with the dealership. T...

5. Calculate the amount financed in cell B6 by entering "=B1-B2-B3-B4+B5" in the cell, without quotation marks, and pressing "Enter."

6. Make labels for the loan details in cells D1 down through D4 as follows: Amount financed, Interest rate, Loan Term and Payment amount.

7. Fill in the information for the loan details in cells E1 down through E3. Type "=B6," without quotation marks, in cell E1 to copy over the amoun...

8. Figure the payment amount by entering the following formula, without the quotation marks, in cell E4: "=PMT(E2/12,E3,E1)."

9. Add up the total interest paid over the life of the loan in cell E5 by entering the following formula, without quotation marks: "=(-E4*E3)+E1. I...

10. Review your entries and results and make adjustments to the variables. You can see how the scenario would look with a higher or lower interest...